Self-care in the NICU

No parent expects to meet their new baby in the NICU. Unfortunately, for 1 out of 10 parents, it’s an unavoidable reality.

As any NICU parent can attest to, the NICU can be a stressful place where parents deal with the ups and downs of their baby’s progress and watch as their baby undergoes one medical procedure after the next. NICU moms are far more likely to suffer from postpartum mood disorders such as anxiety and depression, as compared to moms of healthy full-term infants.

It’s important to practice as much self-care as possible during your baby’s NICU stay to help alleviate some of the stress you are experiencing. We asked NICU moms to share how they kept their sanity during their baby’s extended hospital stay, and here’s what they said: For more self-care ideas, visit Hand to Hold.

References:  

• Write down your feelings
• Listen and sing along to your favorite song on the car ride to and from the NICU
• Read or sing to your baby in the NICU to bring about a sense of normalcy
• Softly play music by your baby’s isolette to drown out the beeping of monitors
• Make gifts for the nurses
• Leave the NICU, even if it’s only for a 20-minute walk
• Practice kangaroo care

1. Preterm Birth. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternalinfanthealth/pretermbirth.htm. Accessed October 8, 2018.
2. Greene MM, Rossman B, Patra K, Kratovil AL, Janes JE, Meier PP. Depression, anxiety, and perinatal-specific posttraumatic distress in mothers of very low birth weight infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2015;36(5):362-370. doi:10.1097/DBP.0000000000000174.